Despite entering the contest with just a 1-1 record in the organization, and a 1-1-1 overall record in his past three contests, nine-time Shooto veteran Mizuto Hirota (12-3-1) capitalized on a brutal fourth-round barrage of knees to claim Sengoku’s lightweight crown with a TKO of former champion Satoru Kitaoka (25-9-9).

The bout closed out a full night of action featuring featuring 13 bouts at World Victory Road’s “Sengoku Ninth Battle” at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

The card, which also featured the conclusion of Sengoku’s 2009 featherweight grand prix, airs in the U.S. via tape delay Friday on HDNet.

The win didn’t come easy for Hirota, who looked as if he would fall prey to a quick submission from Kitaoka early in the fight. Hirota found himself on his back and battling a guillotine choke early on, then again later in the opening round. It was an auspicious start, but Hirota returned the favor in the second by becoming the aggressor and landing the better blows. Kitaoka appeared to gas slightly, and his telegraphed takedowns were stuffed by Hirota.

The third round saw Kitaoka work the fight to the floor, and he scored with small shots from top position. Hirota appeared calm on the bottom, but his inactivity as he tried to stall for a stand-up earned him a yellow card warning. The pace was slowing, but Kitaoka had dug deep and again pulled ahead.

Then came the fourth.

Hirota again was able to time Kitaoka’s advances in the fourth, and this time he was able to dish out punishment for the mistakes. Hirota landed a series of punishing knees to Kitaoka as the two were on the feet, and the blows forced the former champ to shoot in lazily. Obviously in trouble, Kitaoka tried his best to maintain his wits, standing when taking punishment on the floor, shooting when on the feet. Hirota kept the knees coming, and the damage was simply too much to overcome. The bout was halted for the new champ at 2:50 of the fourth round.

The win was Hirota’s second straight, and his first for Sengoku since an August 2008 knockout of Ryan Schultz. Eight of Hirota’s 12 career wins have come by knockout or TKO. The loss snapped a six-fight win streak for Kitaoka, who was unable to defend the lightweight title in his first attempt since earning the belt.

In a featherweight grand prix final that featured one fighter with a .500 record and another who had already lost earlier in the evening, it was probably fitting that the result went to a split decision. And though both Masanori Kanehara (14-6-5) and Michihiro Omigawa (7-8-1) entered the bout having already been through 15-minute tests, neither was prepared to go down without (another) fight.

Kanehara, despite losing to Hatsu Hioki (20-3-2) earlier in the evening, was placed into the finals as an alternate when injuries left the victor unable to continue.

Kanehara dominated the early action, working immediately to Omigawa’s back and remaining there for much of the first round. Both standing and on the floor, Kanehara looked to secure a rear-naked choke, but Omigawa eventually escaped the hold. His left eye closed from the damage of his earlier fight coupled with short blows from his opponent in the final, Omigawa secured a straight arm-bar as time was winding down, but the bell halted the action before a finish was reached.

The second round saw more offense from Kanehara, with his hands causing the most damage this time. Omigawa had a few token guillotine choke attempts, but it was Kanehara who landed blows to the head and body of his opponent both on the feet and on the floor.

Omigawa battled back in the final frame, offering up a gutsy final five-minutes, and taking the round on all three judges’ scorecards. Maintaining top position and scoring with a mix of short ground-and-pound techniques, it was unfortunately not enough for Omigawa. Kanehara was awarded the split decision, and despite going just 1-1 on the evening, he was declared Sengoku’s 2009 featherweight grand prix champion.

Following his publicly discussed legal battles in Japan, middleweight Kazuo Misaki (22-9-2) had little to fight for against Kazuhiro Nakamura (13-10). With Misaki’s purse donated to charity and an apparent indefinite suspension forthcoming, “The Grabaka Hitman” was essentially fighting for just his own pride. That was apparently enough.

After surviving an early inadvertent low kick that added injury to insult (and a second, glancing shot that followed later), Misaki remained aggressive while searching for openings. That moment came when Nakamura committed to moving forward, and Misaki landed a beautifully timed flying knee to his charging opponent’s head. With Nakamura stunned, Misaki pounced, locking in a guillotine choke and squeezing until the bout was halted.

The win was Misaki’s first since a fight-of-the-year candidate loss to Jorge Santiago in January, and it could signal a potential rematch depending on World Victory Road’s stance on the Japanese fighter’s recent brush with the law. Meanwhile, Nakamura has also dropped two-straight contests – his previous loss also to Santiago.

Undoubtedly best known for his sambo win over Fedor Emelianenko, Bulgarian heavyweight Blagoi Ivanov (2-0) doesn’t look like he’ll be looking for a shot at “The Last Emperor” in an MMA contest any time soon. However, Ivanov did just enough to outlast hard-headed veteran Kazuyuki Fujita (15-8) in a 15-minute gutcheck.

While not the prettiest display of striking in recent memory, the two heavyweights were willing to engage from the opening bell, winging arm punches with bad intentions. Both fighters were caught flush with shots, but neither flinched to the onslaught. The pace slowed as time wore on, fatigue evident on both competitors’ face, but neither fighter was willing to quit.

With both fighters looking to land one big haymaker in the final frames, the action came in spurts. Fujita missed on a pair of takedown attempts, though he did briefly lock in an arm-triangle choke. Ivanov maneuvered out of the choke, and as time expired, the score was tight. All three judges issued a different report, but it was the “must decision” issued that awarded the split decision to the Ivanov.

While Ivanov earned the win in his Sengoku debut, Fujita has now dropped two-straight bouts.

While Japanese fan favorite Akihiro Gono (29-15-7) is oft-remembered for his wild ring entrances, his exit from the ring on Sunday was just as memorable – though for all the wrong reasons.

Dan Hornbuckle (18-2) took the fight to Gono early, and “The Handler” didn’t stop until he had officially arrived on the Japanese MMA scene. An exchange from the Thai clinch in the first led to a foot stomp dropped on Gono’s face, and Hornbuckle continued to use his reach advantage on the feet and size advantage in the clinch into the second and third rounds.

Gono landed a body shot that dropped Hornbuckle in the second round, and in the third round the Japanese fighter was also able to score with his hands while standing. But just as Gono appeared to be comfortable in finding his range, a missed kick to the body led to a powerful right high kick counter from Hornbuckle. The blow scored directly on the chin, and Gono was out cold as he hit the canvas at 2:50 of the final round.

Gono lie motionless for several minutes, and he was eventually carried from the ring on a stretcher. It was Gono’s third-straight defeat, while Hornbuckle has now won three-straight fights and 16 of his past 17.

Mitsuoka impressive in quick win; Jung secures grand prix reserve win

In his fifth appearance for Sengoku, lightweight submision ace Eiji Mitsuoka (16-6-2) took full advantage of the sometimes-suspect submission defense of opponent Clay French (17-6) to earn a quick win.

Mitsuoka persisted for the takedown from the opening bell, eventually earning a trip and falling into French’s guard. From there, Mitsuoka powered up, dropping a knee into French’s face. As French looked to stand, he found Mitsuoka leaping onto his frame, locking in the standing guillotine while. With one arm also trapped, French had few defensive tactics available. Falling to the floor, French was forced to tap at 1:51 of the opening frame.

Mistsuka moved to 5-1 in his past six contests, while French fell to just 1-4 in his past five bouts.

After being bounced from the featherweight grand prix in his most recent appearance, Korean Chan Sung Jung (7-1) battled back in impressive fashion to defeat fellow ousted competitor Matt Jaggers (14-7), who was defeated in the opening round, in the night’s grand prix reserve bout.

Jung used an suitable mix of aggressive standup attack and competent ground skills to earn the opening frame, but it was the second round where Jung looked
most impressive. After falling victim to a takedown, Jung opened up an aggressive striking attack from underneath his foe, then methodically secured a fight-ending triangle choke as Jaggers lay passively in his guard. Earning the submission at just 1:25 of the second frame, Jung left himself in excellent condition for a potential call to action later in the evening.

With the evening’s second featherweight grand prix semifinalists having witnessed the exhausting battle that preceded them, both Omigawa and Marlon Sandro (14-1) must certainly have been considering the significant advantage a quick victory would provide. Unfortunately for both, neither was able to deliver.

Omiagawa battled for the takedown through much of the bout, but Sandro’s defense kept the fight standing for most of the 15-minute affair. Sandro’s offense, a steady dose of boxing techniques with a few low kicks mixed in, also proved effective in spurts, though it would not be enough in the end to unseat his Japanese opponent.

A spirited third-round attack from Omigawa, coupled with a late takedown, was enough to secure the final frame for the Yoshida Dojo fighter, though a positive bout result for the Japanese fighter was anything but certain. Omigawa was eventually awarded the belt in surprising split-decision manner, despite the fact that Sandro appeared to have comfortably secured the first two rounds. The unlikely Omigawa advanced to the finals with his third-straight win, while also handing Sandro the first loss of his 15-fight career – albeit in controversial fashion.

The evening’s first featherweight grand prix semifinal contest saw the slick submission skills of Hioki on full display, but the equally impressive escape talents of fellow semifinalist Kanehara were also on full display.

Hioki was absolutely dominant for the opening two rounds, working repeatedly to top position on the floor before launching several near-successful attempts at arm-bars and triangle chokes. Kanehara offered well-timed escapes for each attempt, but the bout was unquestionably one-sided.

Kanehara turned the tide in the final frame, as an apparently tiring Hioki found himself on the bottom of a few grappling exchanges. Kanehara delivered a few desperate punches from the top, but it was far too little, far too late, and Hioki advanced to the finals with a unanimous decision – even taking the third round on one scorecard.

Slow to rise following the final bell, Hioki’s performance was his ninth-straight bout without a loss, while the defeat was Kanehara’s first in three trips to the cage.

Forever immortalized by a pre-fight knockout at the hands of Heath Herring, fans in attendance on Sunday may have eventually wished Yoshihiro Nakao (8-2) had fallen victim to a similar incident to Korean Mu Bae Choi (9-4). Instead, those fans saw 15 minutes of rather uninspired action to kick off the evening’s main card.

After dropping the first round, Nakao relied on a combination of takedowns and knees to outpoint Choi in the final 10 minutes. A few half-hearted submission attempts were tossed around, but neither fighter was really in trouble throughout. In the end, Nakao earned the unanimous-decision victory, his first win since a January loss to Antonio Silva. Choi’s loss snapped a modest two-fight win streak.